


The Light From Eight Minutes Ago

by misura



Category: Sunshine (2007)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Reverse Chronology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3772318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunlight covers the distance between the sun and Earth in eight minutes. Human beings take a little (a lot) longer. (AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Light From Eight Minutes Ago

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perpetualskies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetualskies/gifts).



"My God," Cassie says, wide-eyed and still achingly familiar after seven years. " _Capa_?"

He doesn't know how she's recognized him, or if it should even matter that she has.

He wonders if Mace knew all along, too. It seems likely; Mace may not be a physicist, but that doesn't mean he can't weigh the evidence, calculate the odds, reach a conclusion.

_I'm sorry,_ he considers saying. His vocal chords are still functional, more or less. _Sorry._

His hands are slick with blood, far too little of it his.

 

The light hits him like a hammer and an anvil at once; there's nothing gentle or soft or warm about it; it rips away everything he is, everything he believes in, all those small, secret hopes and desires he's never confessed to anyone but himself.

He hears himself scream, and it sounds awful, like he's in pain, but he's not, really; there's nothing left of him to feel something so small and unimportant and human.

 

"I'm a physicist," Capa says, and it's the same tired old argument he's used before, every time Pinbacker's tried to push him into choosing sides, taking a stand.

"What, and physicists don't believe in God?"

Mace is an atheist with a bundle of weird and occasionally endearing superstitions - half of which Capa suspects were made up on the spot, to charm a smile out of Cassie, who believes in mankind, rather than some sort of higher being, looking down on the rest of them from way up high.

He misses them almost as much as he wishes they weren't here. (They're not.)

"I think there are circumstances under which suicide is a viable option," Capa says, because _I think you are a good man who's turning into a dangerous lunatic before my eyes_ is not in any way a constructive contribution to this conversation.

He's put extra safeguards on the payload, to ensure nobody will be able to tamper with it. He's going a little bit mad, too, he thinks. It's not a very comforting thought.

Pinbacker scowls. "It's not about options. It's about doing what is right. Accepting what must happen."

_Stardust,_ Capa thinks. Cassie owns a book with that name. He doubts it has anything to do with acceptance of one's fate.

Mace has probably read it, too.

 

"I miss you guys - or, well, I miss Cassie," Capa says, the 'record' button blinking next to the time display - seven hours, fifty minutes and seven-six-fifteen seconds left until they're out of reach. "Kidding."

Mace would do the same to him, he thinks. They've got more in common than most people assume, at first glance. They've got Cassie in common, too; that should mean something.

"I uh the crew's made up of good people." He doesn't use the word 'friends'. These are not circumstances under which people can become friends.

He's shared an apartment with Mace and Cassie for close to three months. He thought it had left him prepared - that dealing with Mace's prickliness and morning, afternoon and evening temper had left him ready to deal with complete strangers invading his personal space pretty much all the time.

Good thing, probably, he didn't sign on as a psych officer.

"So I guess I'll see you guys in a couple of years."

 

" _Bullshit_!"

Cassie winces as the book hits the wall. Capa notes the way it's missed anything breakable; it's just a worn novel, bouncing off a hard surface. It's Mace; one starts noticing these things at some point.

"My bomb," he says. "My responsibility." He's imagined staying behind, worrying. Counting the months, weeks, days, hours. Eight minutes for the light of the sun to reach Earth - how many minutes of sunlight in any given day?

Too many, clearly, and never enough.

"So you're just walking out? For, what, four years?"

"I thought you might enjoy the peace and quiet," Capa says, trying to keep the edge out of his voice, swallowing the _this isn't about you and Cassie - this is about me_ that's not going to help.

"I wanted peace and quiet, I'd smother you in your sleep or something. Go sleep on the couch, maybe."

"Try to make _me_ sleep on the couch, more likely," Capa says. "And anyway, it's done."

"You could have said something." Cassie gets up, retrieves the book, her hands a gentle caress on its cover. "Before. Not to side with Mace here or anything, but seriously, Capa. Telling us like this?"

"Would you believe it simply slipped my mind?" Capa asks. "I just - there was a lot of work. These past few months have been kind of crazy."

"I would believe that," Mace says, too quickly. "Only makes it worse, though, from where I'm standing."

"I believe you were afraid," Cassie says. "That you were waiting for a moment when you'd found the right words, the right time. Is that what happened?"

 

"Yes," Capa says, and the sound of an entire room of people holding their breath is very nearly deafening. "Yes, I believe there is a feasible solution."

He looks around the room, spotting Mace, who gives him a grin and a thumbs-up. Spotting Cassie, who smiles back at him.

"It will require a considerable commitment," he goes on. "From everyone who is here today. We will need resources, people, time. Still, I believe that we can do it."

_I believe that there's a chance that we can do it, and that my designs and projections aren't worse than anyone else's, and in some cases probably a lot better._

 

"Great," Mace says. "Yet another scientist who thinks he can save the world. So what makes you better than the last twenty guys I talked to?"

Capa grins. "Jealous?"

"Sane, actually," Mace says. "I get that that's not always an easy distinction to make for people like you, though. And hey, at least you've got a girlfriend, so, you know, good for you."

"Thank you."

"She could do better."

Capa considers taking offense. "Maybe. Are you always this friendly to people you've only just met for the first time?"

"Maybe." Mace smirks. "Or maybe you're just that special."

"I have a girlfriend," Capa says. "So, really, I'm flattered, but I don't think you're my type."

"A physicist with a sense of humor. Now _there's_ something new. Hey, Cassie, come over here and meet - sorry, what was your name again?"


End file.
